pulling the plug

Re: pulling the plug

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native in FL. Exile :~(

>Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh John, John, John, that's a tough answer for anybody to make except for you. you've got to do some deep soul searching and decide just what you're all about in requrds to woodworking. Things like:

-what's more imprtant to be, the process or the finished product

-where am in woodworking, and where do I want to go

-can I tolerate surfaces that show tool marks, or do I want them to be absolutly perfect, ala Machine Men, as coined by Todd Hughes

-why do I do woodworking anyway

and on and on...........

I gave away my last router and don't miss it, but than again I didn't use it for much more than carving out dados and grooves. I hated the noise, dust and expense of the bits.

My only major 'lektic tools are a 1950's contractors tablesaw, drillpress, bandsaw, a small Delta disk/belt sander, a homebuilt 12" disksander, and homebuilt lathe. the only ones that see much use is the tablesaw, bansaw and lathe. I fired my tablesaw once for about 4 months, but re-hired it. I get by with just these few major tailed tools, plus my handtools. I perfer to use the handtools, but find myself using the tailed ones for speed, which dosen't makes sense because I'm not in any hurry since my WW is not for income. One of these days all of them will go away.

Only a few of us are totally handpowered, and of them I am jealous.

Good luck with your decisions, I forsee many sleepless hours for you.

Todd O.

Re: pulling the plug

ernie Miller

>That is tough like todd said you could compramise Like getting rid of the planer and 2 1/2 lathes and a few other tools you might want to keep or replace the band saw but only you know that. another thing to ask your self is if I sell my tools what will I get for them and what will it cost me to replace them if I decide that I want them back? Like todd I trided to get rid of my router an adjustment slipped and ruined a project I threw it out the shop it landed at the end of the drive and a few hours latter it was gone I was so happy then a couple weeks later the neighbor down the street stoped and said he picked it out out of the street but his wife told him to make sure it didn't fall out of my truck and broght it back and wouldn't keep it. Any way decide what is best for you shipping might not be that much you never know untill you ask.

Re: pulling the plug

john jesseph

>I may be having a big moving sale 6 months from now. I would probably keep my little art deco cast-iron based bandsaw, maybe one lathe. A good treadle lathe might do it for me, though, I'm only turning chair parts. I am very conflicted... what a nice thing it would be to have a nice little hand tool shop with moslty tools I made myself... hmmm...

Re: pulling the plug

ernie Miller

>I can relate I like my little hand tool shop that is 10X12' some of the tools are made by me but most arent. but I do use my power tool shop every great now and then and am not ready to part with it but have been down sizing it. just between you & me don't tell any one I do have a bench top drill press in the hand tool shop.

Re: pulling the plug

ThomD

>The way I look at it is production VS a hobby. Hobby is something of a bad word because that can cover a lot of groud from the simplest to the best that can be made, but anyway.

It's obvious that some kinds of commercial production require power tools to compete. It's also true that if you take on a massive job like building your own house, and all the furniture in it, or building a schooner, you may need some power tools.

More subtly a kind of "hobby", like wood turning bowls, can degenerate into a lot of drugery of the sharpening tools, cleaning up shavings, and sawing out blanks kind, if you don't have a grinder, a dust extrator, and bandsaw. Whatever you don't automate in a shop with some power tools, often the part you care least about, is what you will spend most time on.

Production also comes in stuff like making a blanket box for each of 8 daughter, etc...

If you can tame the production demons in whatever form, then you can settle down to just doing what you like at the pace that gives you the enjoyment you want. You can do hacker stuff, or the finest work conceivable, just with hand tools if that is what you want. That is sorta where I am. I have the big tools, but there are so many of them, I don't have room to swing a board into them. I end up doing almost everything with my hand tools.

The two power tools I get the most use out of are the bandsaw, and the planer. They also don't seem to take over your process and jam you into shortcuts. A lathe is also a good tool if you need it, but it does seem to drag you into a bunch of others.

Re: pulling the plug

Jack Guzman from Maine

>I think you'll find that just having the power tools around creates a dependency.If you got rid of them I think find you'd other ways to perform their functions and finally be happier cause they're not there.I have a hard time getting rid of mine but when I had ,on impulse,sold some large electric crutches I found this to be true. The hardest one for me is the router table.I built it well and it performed it's function admirably.I even built in dust collection.However I haven't found a need to use it for a long time(3 years now I believe),but I still can't bring myself to get rid of it.It takes up a big space in my shop.

So I guess I'm speaking partially to myself when I say ,just get rid of them,you won't regret it.---Jack

Re: pulling the plug

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native in FL. Exile :~(

>I think you'll find that just having the power tools around creates a dependency.

That is a 100% true statement Jack, at least it is for me. It is a "process" to get rid of them. By that, I mean that you have to build the jigs/tools that you'd need to replace the tailed beasties. Last week I put together a shooting board which I know I'll need to true up my sloopy crosscuts, and I need to build a sawing horse of sometype for ripping. I had a "picinc" style ripping board at one time, but I re-hired my T@bles@w I ended up using the plywood for something else. I have in mind to build something along the lines of a Japanese planing beam to use as a sawing horse. Just haven't found a plan for one yet, tho I do have a design in my head.

To rid myself of the b@nds@w I need to get my claws onto a good bowsaw. I have one, but it is a lightweight, flimsy little affair which makes it difficult to get mch tension on the blade due to fear of breaking it.

The drill press is easy to replace with braces/eggbeaters/breast drills and as a matter of fact I offered to sell it to my neighbor today, but he declined due to lack of space in his garage.

That John, is what I suggest you do as well. Make/buy the handtool tools that you need do do the jobs that you now have 'leektriciy tools do, get confident with them, and than sell of the cast iron. that's my plan anyhow.

Todd O.

good plan...

john jesseph

>I am planning a slow phase out right now... I just don't make enough flat and square stuff to justify it, but after i thought about it, I can't go cold turkey...

I'm there....

Steve Kubien

>Hi John,

I have long been thinking of getting rid of my tablesaw. Too much acreage, not enough usage. However, I do cut a fair bit of plywood while making things for my Mom's tole painting classes. Some of it is precision-esque work and some is rough cutting before heading to the scrollsaw. If I had an easy way to make precise cuts without my tablesaw, it would be history (rough cutting would be easy). Yup, I'm looking for a suggestion!

I cannot see getting rid of the bandsaw, router (table collapses) or scrollsaw.

My thoughts, for what they are worth,

Steve Kubien

Ajax, Ontario

Re: I'm there....

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native in FL. Exile :~(

>Steve,

What thickness of Plywood?

I hate to put a edged tool to plywood,so I can't say a shooting board is your answer, but than again, perhaps a dedicated plywood cutter is what you need.

Todd O.

Re: I'm there....

Steve Kubien

>Hi Todd,

It varies by the project but mostly 1/8", 1/4" and 1/2" Baltic birch. Some 1/2" and 3/4" MDF as well. I think I just need to rig up some sort of reliable jig/guide/thingamabob for my circular saw and use a really fine blade. Oh well, other priorities right now.

Steve Kubien

Re: pulling the plug

John K in Hastings, MN

>You could sell all your stationary tools (except the bandsaw and a lathe, these are very versatile). If you needed to do more cutting, a Festool setup is very portable and would allow you to cut/rip/rout IF you wanted to.

The new shop could be setup as a handtool only shop. Like the article in the latest PWW on the Colonial Williamsburg cabinet shop, a two car garage shop is HUGE when you are using hand tools only.

Having said all that, moving the shop is a time and trouble thing more than money. Many movers won't move lumber, and do you trust them with big stationary tools? You'll probably end up renting a trailer or truck and moving the whole thing yourself, which makes it MORE likely that selling big stuff and starting fresh makes sense.

The hand tools can be boxed up and moved easily, of course.

Re: I'm there....

Ned Bulken

>what about a festool style guided track for your circ saw? doesn't eliminate the corded beasties, but would allow you to make precision cuts as needed and is stowable when you are done with it.